Can-opener



(No Model.)

P. SHARP. CAN OPENER.

No. 557,158. Patented Mar. 31, 1896.

ANDREW E GRAHAM. PHDYO UmawAsHlNGTUmDL UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK SHARP, F MOUNT AUBURN, KENTUCKY.

CAN-OPEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,158, dated March 31, 1896.

Application filed January 4, 1896. Serial No. 574,298. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, FRANK SHARP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Auburn, in the county of Pendleton and State 0f Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Openers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the annexed drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement on the peculiar form of can-opener seen in Letters Patent No. 347,834, granted to me August 24, 1886; and the object of my present construction is to simplify the means for adjusting the knife or cutter along its supporting-bar, and, at the same time, to prevent accidental shifting of said knife. These results are effected by a special shape of spring that is engaged with the handle and presses upwardly against the shifting bar, as hereinafter more fully described, and then pointed out in the claim.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a plan of an ordinary can-opener. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section through the knife-supporting bar and its accessories. Fig. 4 is a plan of my improved form of the opener. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the special spring used in the implement.

In common with the implement seen in the patent above referred to my new can-opener has a skeleton handle A, provided with an integral knife -bar B, whose effective end is pointed at C, so as to readily pierce an ordinary can top or head. D is a knife or cutter carried by this bar B and capable of being readily adjusted along the same, one end of a shifting bar E being fastened to said knife, while the opposite end of the bar has a small knob or handle F swaged thereon. Furthermore, the bar E traverses a short tube G made of india-rubber, or leather, or felt, or any other material capable of aifordin g a moderate frictional hold on said bar, and yet allow it to be easily shifted back or forth when occasion requires. This friction device G is usually seated in a socket I-I, at the junction of the handle A and bar B, and, if desired, this tube G may be cemented in said socket. From the above description it is evident the smooth unthreaded bar E can be readily advanced or retracted to adjust the knife D to a proper position with reference to the point C of the opener, and after said point has pierced the head of a can said knife is then brought into service. To do this, the knifepoint is forced through the can-head, and the implement is then swung around either to the right or left, the result being the cutting of a disk-shaped piece of metal from said head, during which operation there is no chance for the knife to slip either back or forth on its supporting-bar. No claim, however, is made for a can-opener constructed as above described and illustrated; but in my invention (seen in Fig. 4) the handle A has a transverse `bar I and two lugs J J', to which devices is applied a spring, whose peculiar shape is more clearly seen in Fig. 5. Reference to this illustration shows that said spring is composed of side pieces K K', having end hooks k 7c that take hold of the transverse bar I, while the opposite ends of said wires K K are united by a cross-piece L. k lo are bends in these side wires to engage over the lugs J J Vith this construction the cross-piece L of the spring exerts an upward pressure against the under side of the shifting rod E, it being understood that the latter traverses a smooth longitudinal bore made in the implement where the handle A joins the bar B.

I claim as my invention- The combination, in a can-opener, of the handle A, having a pointed bar B C, transverse bar I and lugs J J a knife D adjustable along said bar B C; a shifting rod E, attached to sai-d knife; and a spring K K k k lo' lo' L, applied to said cross-bar I and lugs J, J', in the manner described, and bearing against said bar E, for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK SHARP. Witnesses:

JAMEs H. LAYMAN, ARTHUR MOORE. 

